I began this morning with intrepidation. I knew I should go to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and The Killing Fields and I had been putting it off because I knew what I felt like after seeing what had occurred in Auschwitz and I wasnt sure that I wanted to feel the same way.

Choeung Ek - The Killing Fields

I remember hearing about Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge as a kid but I never really understood what it was all about. Before I got to Cambodia I read a book called “Stay Alive, My Son” which gave me a background on what to expect so I wasnt that surprised at what I saw. Regardless of where you see attrocities like these, it is hard to contemplate that human beings can be so cruel.

When you travel around Cambodia, it is rare to see elderly people – or many people over 40 for that matter. It’s very sad when you realise that the reason for this is because their own people killed them off. Regardless, the Cambodian people always seem to be there with a smile on their faces despite the lives they have endured.